April 18th

My 27th ? birthday. We woke up in Moja's Kyrkvik. As often the boat got way to hot in the night and we needed to switch the heaters off at 2am. The morning started with a light rain. I hoisted the flags. The rain suited my mood. Imelda had woken up so stopped me making coffee and teas and sent me back to bed. However, two children were vast asleep so birthday singing had to wait.

Bucka, our resident penguin, had two eggs that hatched in the night. Elliott was delighted when he woke up. I went to church. Swedish churches on Good Friday have no organ playing, no flowers, no candles, it all is supposed to add to the somber mood. Elliott and I had two years ago gone to a Good Friday service in the Bahamas. Now the priest talked about the English Good Friday versus the Swedish Long Friday. All down to culture.

The church has a jetty. Two elderly ladies stopped by when passing our boat anchored off the church. They hoped we would be there for the Easter Day service. I spoke with my mother who is still at hospital recovering from her foot surgery. The whole crew later set foot on Moja. We walked to the shop and tried to find the "fornby" (ancient village), but the latter to no success. By the afternoon, the sky started to clear. We left Moja. Went up and down Moja Strom because of its scenery and on towards Stora Tistelholmen.

It turned out to be a beautiful place: birds, an ancient sea mark, round cliffs and views of the open Baltic Sea. We anchored and stayed the night with one other boat. The sun set was incredible orange before disappearing into the low clouds.